The present invention relates to an air moving structure in an article for personal care like diapers, training pants, swimwear, absorbent underpants, adult incontinence products, bandages and feminine hygiene products.
Personal care articles include such items as diapers, training pants, swimwear, bandages, incontinence garments and feminine hygiene products such as sanitary napkins, panty-liners and tampons and the like. The most basic design of all such articles typically includes a bodyside liner, an outer cover and an absorbent core disposed between the bodyside liner and the outer cover. Generally, the bodyside liner and the outer cover are sealed about the periphery so as to encapsulate the absorbent core and thus make it possible to entrap and retain any fluids contained within the absorbent core. Depending upon the design of the particular personal care absorbent article, other components also may be included. Thus, the product may include such things as elastic side panels, fluid containment flaps, fastening devices and other layers of fluid transfer or retention materials.
The lack of air flow into personal care products has been a long standing concern because of adverse skin effects which are believed to be promoted by continuous exposure to moisture and the enzymes and other substances in bodily fluids. Many attempts to correct these adverse effects have been made, including the provision of materials designed to wick and hold liquids away from the skin, or to increase the breathability or air permeability of the personal care product components. Breathable diaper outer covers, for example, have been developed to allow increased air exchange and flow into the product and so improve the environment adjacent the skin. The condition of the wearer""s skin is thus an area of continuing concern to the personal care product industry.
In light of low air flow within personal care products, even those with breathable outercovers, it is an object of this invention to provide a dynamically breathable personal care product wherein air is forced into the product to the region between the skin and the product. Dynamic breathability, i.e., the forcing of air into a product, should not be confused with the provision of breathable materials which merely allow air to pass through them in a passive fashion.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a dynamically breathable personal care product wherein the normal movement of the wearer results in the drawing of air into the product, by, for example, the change in the circumference of the wearer""s midsection during normal respiration.
Objects of the invention are achieved by a bellows that is adapted to be actuated by the normal movement of a wearer""s body and discharge air into a personal care product in a region between a wearer""s skin and the product. The bellows comprises valving means having at least a first one-way valve which intakes air from outside the product and a second one-way valve which discharges air into the product in a region between the wearer""s skin and the product. The bellows have sufficient resilience to spring back into shape and refill with air from outside of the product after being compressed by the normal movement of the wearer.